Explain Dynamic Range and the many ways producers manipulate dynamic range.

Introduction
Music has also been a comfort and pleasure zone for me and the stresses of life. I am pursuing this course to know more about music.This week, I am picking the topic on Dynamic Range, its explanation and how producers manipulate the dynamic range.  I have taken pictures out of the videos of the course to explain some of the terms here.

Dynamic Range
Performer
To a performer, the dynamic range is the musical control of volume over the song; or how to play the score. It determines how a performer plays the music, for instances, more aggressive playing at the chorus or solo part of a music.

For example, p or piano, meaning 'soft' or f or forte, meaning 'loud'. mp means moderately soft and mf means moderately loud

More information on musical dynamic range can be found here.

Musical Equipment
For a piece of musical equipment, the dynamic range is the range at which the instrument or equipment can reproduce accurately and properly. This range is usually between the noise floor, the quietest level at which the equipment can reproduce. And the loudest level, also known as the distortion

 Human Ear
For the ordinary human, the dynamic range is more complicated as the human brain acts as a automatic gain control for the range that we can hear. In very quiet place, it is possible to hear sound like your own heartbeat while at noisy places such as live band performances, the quiet noise gets cancelled out and you only hear the loud noises. 


The measurements of the dynamic range of a song is usually defined as the amplitude, measured in dBSPL or decibels in relations to sound pressure level. 0 is the minimum. This is the quietest noise that the normal human can hear. This is also known as the threshold of hearing. The maximum noise a human can hear, also known as the threshold of pain is between 120-140 dBSPL.

Dynamic Range Manipulation

On a macro scale, dynamic range manipulation is done via using the Volume Fader & Volume Automation. This is done by the adjusting the relative section between the levels. Here, the chorus can be increased by a few decibels and decreasing the verse by a few decibels. 

On a smaller scale, like the dynamic range of a single performance. For instances, during singing, The Singer will sing louder during the chorus and quieter during the verse. For a song, the singing is the focus and hence it is the mix engineer jobs to keep a clear focus for the listener.

This technique, known as "Riding the Fader" is a kind of manual compression. This keeps the focus on the vocalist performance.

On the micro-scale, the dynamic shape of each individual drum hit can be controlled.This is usually done via compressors and gates. Here, each transient is manipulated automatically. Transient means the place where the amplitude changes a lot in a short period of time. Examples includes clapping and drum hitting.

A Transient

As the changes is too fast, it is usually done via programming or algorithms controls. 

In Dynamic Manipulation, it is important to be true to the original musical content. This is to let the listener focus on the musical instrument at the moment in time of the music piece. 

Dynamic Range Terms
There are usually 4 common terms used in terms of dynamic range manipulation and these are 1) Compression, 2) Expansion, 3) Limiters and 4) Gates. 
 
Compression
In dynamic range manipulation, it is common to use compression where the dynamic range is reduced. This is done by making the loud quieter or the quieter louder. 

Expansion
Expansion is done where the dynamic range is emphasized. Here the loud is made louder and quieter quieter.

Gates
Gates, or more commonly known as noise gate is traditionally used to remove the hiss and noise of a piece of musical instrument playing. For instances, when a guitar gets playing, it is usually louder than the ambient noise. But when it stops, the hiss or noise comes on. Setting a gate where the threshold is above the noise but below the signal of the guitar effectively removes these noise.

Limiters
Limiters is a type of extreme downward compression where the compression ratio is more than 10:1. It is traditionally used as a form of protection. For instances, when a vocalist screams or drops the microphone. The limiters will set in and cut off the sound.

In contemporary music, it is used mainly as a loudness maximizer. Here, the sound is made to be as loud as possible without actually increasing the amplitude. This is done by changing the timbre of the songs.

Reflections
I have gotten hold of Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 2014 and will be raring to have a go at what I have been taught. Unfortunately, my laptop, which is in its 4th year is starting to crank up on me. So most probably I need to get a new piece of gear before I can get cracking.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read this and hope to see you next week!